Brockley is home to a number of unusual churches, so this is the first in a short series focusing on those who're interested in a religious path less taken.

The Presbyterian Church of Wales is found at 289 Lewisham Way, next to St Johns Church.

Throughout London in the immediate pre and post war period there were over 30 Welsh churches. Now there are only six. One of the Church's late former members Meurig Owen was an authority on the history of the church and some of his work can be found in the Lewisham Local History records

It was established in 1924 and has a service in Welsh every Sunday at 11am. They also have a literary society meeting twice a month from October to March.

The Church Secretary is Mr Gwyndaf Evans, who you can contact on 0208 300 6415 to find out more.

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Anonymous
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When I first moved to Brockley I approached the church as I thought it would be nice to have a welsh connection for myself and my children, but I was not made to feel welcome as I wasn't welsh speaking !

I went to school in North Wales and one of my good friend's granddad was a Welsh speaking Church of Wales Minister.

I remember going to service with her one Sunday and being surreptitiously hidden on the top balcony (away from the others) and kept out of view in case I upset the members. This despite, or maybe indeed because, she went to the same Roman Catholic school as me.

What I love about the internet and these kinds of online communities in particular is that it doesn't matter what the subject is - scrabble, Welsh churches or ground-source heat pumps, someone always has something interesting to share. Thanks for that.

I worked in 2 Chinese restaurants (as a waiter) and a 4 star hotel as a silver service waiter in both Llandudno and Barmouth (Abermaw) in North Wales when I was a student. Does that count for anything?

Thanks for the information about the Welsh church Nick. Do you , or anyone know whether the church also owns the large, grand house beside it which shares the same land ? I have read that the house belonged to the wealthy Lucas family who owned the land on which most of the St Johns area was built.

What really intrigues me about the Welsh church is the fact that I was told to leave immediately when I approached the door by a woman who appeared from nowhere, and also that I have never, in many years, seen anybody outside it or entering it. It is interesting that one of the comments here mentions that he/she was not made welcome at the church. It is like the beginning of an episode of Scooby Doo. Maybe Lord Lucan is hiding out in there. I 'd really like to hear from someone who does actually attend the church.

Isn't the house the one that is now owned by a wealthy city man who has spent a fortune restoring it - to the standards of but without the help or interference from English Heritage - and which is usually open to the public in the Open London weekend in September? Or am I getting my mansions muddled up.

On Churches I hope you will also feature the Indian Orthodox one in Cranfield Road which I was not really aware of before passint it today.

An article about local churches and manor houses? Sounds very interesting - genuinely. You've been writing very prolifically recently Nick. I've been busy at work and I can barely keep up with everything you're writing and all the comments. Usually I'm on top of it...

The house next to the Welsh church was built as a family home for the local landowning Lucas family. There are remains of another grand house, Brunswick House, fronting Tanners Hill, you'll have to look carefully at the fronts and at the rear. The other smaller terraces were built around it, enclosing it. manor farm was off the site of Wickham Rd., where Joseph Myatt had his rhubarb field, before moving to Camberwell. Myatt was the first farmer to attempt to sell rhubarb as a food rather than as a medecine in the early 1800s. Tack Mews was buit on the remains of the farm. In the 19070s Tack Mews was a (horse) riding school. We kept a horse there.

Nick, did you really not know about the rhubarb? Didn't they have some sort of night trains that brought sewage from other parts of London to fertilise the rhubarb? Thought I'd read that on BC, but maybe not.

PS Can't believe a thread about churches has gone on for so long without the trolls appearing.

Brockley was also famous for highwaymen who used to hang out around the Brockley Jack which, back then was an isolated inn on the way into/out of London. Also I'm sure I read later that there were enormous brick making field where clay was dug up, turned into bricks and dried in the open or something.

Interesting that Tack Mews was a stables. I wondered why it had the horsey name.

I looked at buying one of the little 1980s houses back there in 2006. They seemed very peaceful with little gardens tucked away from busy Lewisham. However when the developer built them in the 80s they didn't plumb gas in so they are heated by rubbish 80s storage heaters and I heard estate agents say that they get very cold and are inadequately heated in winter. Certainly one of the ones we viewed even had condensation and damp on the windows even in August.

Other brickfield related names: Cliffview Road, Overcliff Road, Undercliff Road, Shell Road, Fossil Road, Sandrock Road, Loampit Hill/Vale (OK, all in SE13 but I think the bricks would have built a lot of the houses to the north of Hilly Fields).

Surely you all know that some of the garden walls in Cliffview and Montagu and probably elsewhere have slag from the brick kilns in them? Why don't we rename Hilly Fields with its original name, the Brickfield. Fossil, Cliffview, Undercliff et al were bulit surrounding the quarries. Hence Loampit Hill.

Some depressingly ill-informed comments about the Welsh church in Lewisham. It's been there for a century and at one time was a thriving community. It has always welcomed worshippers regardless of language. Maybe those who felt unwelcome arrived with preconceived notions? The chapel and house are one unit and owned by the London Welsh churches. Oh and as for 'Dolgethlow', word fail me. Such pathetic ignorance.

My family all hailed from Wales,and attended the Welsh Chapel on lewisham Way.I was married there in 1966.The chapel was well attended and drew membership from SE London and out to Bromley,Chislehurst etc.. as it was the only Welsh Chapel in the SE of the city.But there were about 30+ Welsh chapels and churches in London whhen I was a child.The Minister was Arthur Tudno Williams,who had two children,John, who was head Boy at Colfe's when it was in lewisham,& a daughter Mairwho went to Prendergast school.The house attached to the chapel was the'Chapel House'or'Ty Capel' The Minister had his study there,and there were functions ,plays and concerts held in the big room to the right of the front door,which stretched the full depth of the building.Kitchen in the basement,which saw many cups of tea and welsh cakes over the years.Upstairs was a flat for the caretaker,Mrs A Thomas,and family. They cleaned and looked after the chapel and the large gardens.there was a grass tennis court at the back,and this was used by members. The Minister was athletic and loved tennis!Mrs Thomas was the aunt of Sir Geraint Evans who still attended the chapel when he could,despite being a world famous opera singer.Other 'celebs'I remember were Meredith Edwards TV actor,Petra Davies,TV actress,and a TV weather man whose name I forget!So I have many very happy memories of the chapel and the people there'who were like an extended family! I learnt Welsh, loved singing hymns,and formed a great love of music in this little part of Wales in London!

To Anonymous entry 10th September 2011: My family were heavily involved in Lewisham Welsh Chapel up until the early 1970s. Mrs Avarina Thomas the caretaker was my aunt (father`s sister). The weather presenter you refer to was Trevor Davies, and his wife Nansi Davies had a very pleasant soprano voice and sang in the many concerts that took place over the years. I too attended the chapel in 1966 and should know who you are. Can you give me a clue?

My name is Sandra and Avarina Thomas was my grandmother. They were living above the church during WW2. My mum Pegi, met my dad who was in the services from Alberta Canada. They married in 1945, during one of his leaves out of Europe. My sister was born in 1946, and they came to Canada after the war. My grandmother Avarina died in 1971. Her son Glanville came to Canada then to be with us. Mum always told of great times had in the apartment above the church with all her aunties and uncles singing while she played the piano. Mum also told us of the times Geriant Evans, his brother Allun and she singing together. When mum and dad decided to marry, she looked everywhere for a wedding band. She found one in the pawn shop. To keep it safe until the wedding she went into the basement and hid it up inside the old furnace.the reason I was on the computer looking up the church at 289, was because I have an old communion decanter from that church. I was hoping to find a picture online. So, the young lady in the above post is my mum's cousin. Have we met?From Canada:

Hello, I had a lot of Welsh relatives (grandparents, great-aunts and -uncles etc) in Lewisham and Brockley in the first half of the twentieth century, and they were all 'chapel' - mostly Cogregationalists but some WCM. I would love to be able to contact Crad and Sandra in order to compare notes and hear about the place. (Dach chi'n siarad Cymraeg??)